Navigating Through a Friend's Darkness
by bronze andromeda shun
Summary: Nami finds Usopp about to do something they'd all rather prevent. She reaches out, and prays he hears her. Rated T for suicide mention.
**Hi, everyone. Yes, I know, I haven't touched my stories on here in forever. Honestly, I don't know when or if I'll ever get back to them. But that's not what I'm focusing on now. A friend of mine has been in a dark place, lately, so I wrote this for them. They relate really strongly to Usopp, and I wanted to give them some light at the end of the tunnel. Nami might be OOC, since I'm pushing myself onto her character.**

 **I do not own anything; One Piece belongs to Oda.**

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Nami had been going to get Chopper. She was just going to make him take a break or something. She never expected to walk into _this_. Not Usopp, their Usopp, frozen in place, hands pausing in rummaging through Chopper's bag as quietly as he could, various pill bottles gathered in his lap. All thoughts of fetching the little reindeer flew from her mind at the sight.

"…What are you doing?" She knows the answer, knows what's going on, but she needs to say something. Anything to get the conversation going. Anything to get him to open up to her, maybe she can help…

Usopp just gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, this? Ah, you see, there's um…some hurt kids! That I saved from a horde of monsters! Yeah, I beat them all pretty easily, but they were already hurt when I got there, so…ouch!" He let out a pained whimper as he nursed the newfound bump on his head.

The redhead gave out a sigh, before going over to the door, sliding the lock shut. This would require some privacy. Taking a few deep breaths to clear her head, she made her way back over to their sniper, sitting down beside him. She made sure not to make direct eye contact. When someone's that lost, you never know what can spook them, after all.

"What happened? You can't have made this decision lightly." She spoke as gently as possible, hoping against hope that he wouldn't try to lie his way out of this. "How long have you felt like this?" Usopp seemed to freeze in place again, uncertainty, pain, and guilt flitting across his face. Nami felt her heart clench as he lowered his head.

"Kind of always? I mean, it got worse after Water 7, but… I don't know, it's always been there, I guess." He gave a halfhearted shrug. The resignation in his eyes made Nami want to cry. How could they have missed it? How could they not see how much he was hurting? He needed them, and they hadn't done a thing to help him!

Usopp continued on, looking like now that he'd started, he wasn't able to stop. "I mean, it's not like things are bad, you know? They're great, and you guys are great, and I would never want to hurt any of you. But it's just, how am I supposed to be of any use? Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Franky, they're stronger, and you, Chopper, and Robin are way smarter, and just about everything I can do someone else can do better, and-" He was abruptly cut off, surprise quieting him as Nami's arms flew around his shoulders. When he managed to get his mouth working again, concern laced his tone. "Nami…?"

"Shut up, you idiot. You're just as important as the rest of us. No one can invent things like you, or shoot like you, or make stories for Luffy and Chopper…there's so much you do, and I don't think you realize just how important that is. You make us smile, Usopp. We need you." Her voice never rose above a whisper, the emotions heavy in each syllable. Slowly, she released him, falling back into her sitting position beside him.

The redhead gave a watery smile at his utterly baffled expression. Hopefully she didn't just break their sniper. Still, she wasn't finished just yet. "This…you need to talk about this. To someone. To anyone. They'd understand, you know."

Usopp quickly shook his head back and forth, his nose starting to blur from the momentum. "No way! You can't say anything to them! They can't know about this. This, feeling like this when I should just be happy, when things are good, it's not normal. Not right. You won't say anything, will you?"

Nami bit her lip, before shaking her head. Forget the Grand Line, navigating this conversation is one of the hardest things she's ever done. "No. I won't say anything, I promise. …I still think you should, though." Before he could open his mouth to protest, she continued on, "Just hear me out, okay? I know it's hard. To let someone you care about see you that weak, it's hard. I know. I've done it.

"When Bellemere-san died…you know I worked under Arlong, trying to buy the village's freedom. There were so many…so many days, that I just wanted to end everything. I wanted to be free from Arlong. I wanted to see her again…" Tears were welling up, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. Instead, she just turned her eyes to Usopp, breaking her own earlier rule by looking him dead in the eye. He needed to see how serious she was about this.

"Nojiko ended up catching me. She pulled me aside, and stayed with me for weeks. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there. She saved me from myself. And then, you all did. I never would be who I am now without you guys."

Clearing her throat, she kept talking. "Anyway, that's not my point. My point is, this isn't something that you need to hide. Hiding it will only make it worse. I'm not going to make you do anything, but please, talk to me. Let me help."

Usopp looked shell-shocked, to be honest. Not that she blamed him. Hearing that someone knows a little of what you're going through had to be an unexpected turn, especially if he had been dealing with this as long as he had. Finally, he nodded. "Okay."

Nami gave him another small smile, swinging her arm around his shoulders. It wasn't over. There was still a lot more to go through, and a lot more hard days ahead. But it was a start. And, for now, in this moment, it was enough.


End file.
